Indiana State wide receiver Bob Pugh (4) runs past University of South Dakota defensive back Andrew Gray (9) during the first half of their NCAA football game on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017 at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, S.D. Sam Caravana / Argus Leader

University of South Dakota linebacker Alex Gray (22) tackles Youngstown State running back Christian Turner (20) at the line of scrimmage during the second half at the DakotaDome on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 in Vermillion, S.D. Sam Caravana / Argus Leader

VERMILLION – The Gray brothers are playing in their last college football game on Saturday, and the approach is about the same as it has been since they arrived in Vermillion.

Yes, it’s the state rival and the final game of the season, jam-packed with reasons to be fired up. But isn’t that how it is supposed to work every Saturday?

From New Lenox, Ill., and Lincoln Way West High School, these identical twins have been teammates in addition to brothers. They have occasionally been rivals in addition to friends. And now they’re coming to the end of five years of college together with a parallel set of accomplishments as Coyotes.

Alex is a 6-3, 225-pound linebacker who has a Missouri Valley player of the week award this season and leads USD with 81 tackles. Andrew is a 6-2, 215-pound two-time Missouri Valley player of the week this season who plays safety and is seven tackles behind Alex.

Together they’ve evolved into team leaders, quick with the needle but also with the pat on the back at practice while earning reputations as players who walk the walk.

“I think guys like being around us – I hope so,” Alex said. “Our teammates always tell us they respect us and respect how we play. Ultimately that’s all I ask for from them. When we were younger we had guys like Jacob Warner and Keyen Lage and Tyson Graham who were mentors to us. They showed us how to do it. It’s never easy for the freshmen coming in – the more you can offer a hand and help them out, it’s just us returning the favor for the way those guys taught us.”

Had just one of them ended up at USD, that Gray brother would be going into the South Dakota State game with teammates and coaches knowing the program was going to miss the production and personality he’d established in his time at USD. Given that they’re a pair, it’s really going to make a dent. In a good way. It confirms they’ve made themselves useful.

Andrew Gray(Photo: USD)

“As a coach you have to learn to enjoy the moment that you’re in – that’s what we do here,” said South Dakota defensive coordinator Moose Mohnsen. “Those guys make it fun to do that because they’re goofballs. And they know when to turn the switch on and when to be serious.”

Andrew was offered a scholarship by South Dakota after his junior year of high school. Alex was not, though he was offered a spot on the team. Both redshirted as freshmen, with Alex eventually switched to linebacker. The past two years they’ve collectively been among the most active defensive players on the roster.

“They’re a lot alike in a couple regards,” South Dakota coach Bob Nielson said. “Both of them are really tough. Both have had multiple surgeries. They’re guys who have played hurt all year when a lot of guys like them I think would have pulled out. As a result they’ve demonstrated some fighting spirit for our football team.”

Their father, Ken, a youth football coach back when they were young, brought them to practice as toddlers. By the time they were 6 they were wearing the pads, playing in games and earning a reputation for aggressive play.

Alex Gray(Photo: USD)

“We were a little wilder than other people,” Andrew admitted. “Now I hear from all my friends about how their parents wouldn’t let them hang out with us because we were too rough on them. We’d play backyard football and get in a lot of fights. Their parents weren’t so fond of that.”

The Grays are not the Hanson brothers from the movie “Slapshot”. They do not take their toy cars with them on road trips nor do they wrap their fists in tinfoil before games. Their friends’ parents no longer forbid their children to hang out with them.

In fact, they’re well-spoken young men and fully capable of explaining what it’s been like to have a twin brother as a teammate and a roommate. Andrew is a student teacher this semester and is looking forward to a career in education and coaching. Alex will have a business degree and wants to return to the Chicago area, though it’s obvious he’s not completely sold on living without football.

But they can still be a little wilder than other people.

“Those guys are something else to live with,” said USD defensive end Darin Greenfield, their roommate. “They’re so rough with each other. We broke a couch in our house once. Went right through the back of it. It’s just how they are. They’re super aggressive. For football that’s really nice. They’re really nice people, too, but they have that side that they can turn on. It’s not something everyone has. Great football players and great people all together.”

Greenfield was lucky enough to witness the last serious Gray brothers brawl up close. Though it happened early in their careers at USD, it maintains a prominent spot in Gray brothers lore among teammates.

“We were goofing around in the backyard of our place one time and Alex kicked the ball at Drew and nailed him in the back of the head,” Greenfield said. “I see them run at each other and fight for like two minutes on the ground trying to punch each other. I come into the house five minutes later they’re sitting together watching film on their phone and laughing. One is bleeding. They just got done fighting and they’re cool with each other. That’s how it works for those guys.”

There’s been nothing to compare to that since then, though they’ve continued to trample the boundaries of civility when nothing less will quite get a point across.

“We get into small arguments and neither one of us knows when to stop so we keep going and going until it becomes a physical altercation,” Andrew said. “The good thing is that it never gets too crazy. Usually it’s just a punch or two or a body slam and then it’s over with.”

Yep, it never gets too crazy.

The mutual respect comes easy with a mutual love of the game. These fellows, who once forced their high school coach to call a timeout in order to stop their bickering with the other in the huddle, actually like each other a great percentage of the time. And more importantly, so does everybody else.

“They’ve earned respect from the standpoint of how they play and how they prepare and how they work,” said Mohnsen, who calls the long-haired Andrew “Joe Dirt” and the short-haired Alex “Cameron Dirt” for reasons he can’t explain. “Everybody likes them. They’re great kids, good personalities, they can fit in with any crowd. In this melting pot of a football team that we have, that’s how you want everyone to be.”

The bonus is that they’re getting out in one piece, or in this case, two pieces. From start to finish, they’ve worked as a team within the team with neither ultimately letting the other down.

“We definitely couldn’t have seen this coming,” Alex said. “We didn’t know how it was going to end up but I’m happy the way it went and I couldn’t be more proud of my brother, myself and my teammates. It’s been a good career.”